(4) Dark Hunters: The Bunker
by Dgray3994
Summary: It's been a while since we checked in, thought that this would be the best time to do it. So, without further adieu, a Dark Hunters weekend adventures


Weekend at Sammy's

FRIDAY

_Arriving_ at the bunker had always been a little off-putting. It had been over year since the threat against the women that Danni and I had grown to love and hunt with. A little over 9 months since Sammy and I _tied the knot_, and a little over two weeks since I had last been at the bunker.

The well-lived-in building was still a permanent home to the boys, with a few additions, Danni being one, but I was the traveler. The kids weren't out of school, so packing them up and moving them to Kansas was a no-go, but it didn't stop Sam and I from being together. We just ran on a more specific schedule.

Every other week, when the kids went off to their dad's for the weekend, I found myself standing where I did now… in a closet… in the middle of the sub-basement of the bunker… in complete darkness.

Like I said, arriving at the bunker was a little off-putting. Cas has insisted on being the one to make sure that Sam and I had our time together, but with the new found responsibilities that the angel had stumbled into, that wasn't always the best way to do things, so, I went to Crowley.

The King of Hell, in turn, bitched to his heart's content until he handed over a transportation spell, one specifically designed for me. It linked two locations by a sigil carved into the concrete, in both places, but mine was safely hidden in the research room in my house, while the second was placed in an unused closet deep in the bowels of the bunker. The spell could only be used by those whose blood it was connected to. Mine, Sam's, Dean, and Danni's, and that was the end of that.

When I touched the sigil and whispered the words, the world went black. Not really a bad thing, it just meant that I had arrived and all I had to do was reach out, twist, and push, and I would find myself standing in the middle of hallway.

I never carried anything with me, save for the blade that was usually situated in the calf of my boot, but half of my belongings were here already, some in Sam's room, some in one of the spare room that I had taken over, because you never knew when a hunter might _drop in_ injured or in need of something and the fact that Sam and I were now connected, well, that was very much a secret, and needed to stay that way.

I climbed the flight of stairs, stopped off in the _dungeon _room to see if there were any interesting clients that I might need to meet, but it was eerily silent. Moving on, I climbed one more set of stairs and stepped out just under the landing that lead up to the main door.

Sam was just coming out of the kitchen, coffee cup in one hand, thick spine of a research book in the other and I dropped the keys from my pocket on the map table. Sam stopped dead, hunching over to avoid wearing the coffee that had tipped from his cup and he smirked up at me, hair falling in his face.

"Hey, Sexy," I grinned, moving closer as he met me at the end of the table, slowly put down the mug and the book before reaching out towards me.

I was wrapped around him in an instant, those java-coated fingers gliding along my cheeks and let me tell you, the smell of Sam and coffee was nearly orgasmic. His lips were soft on mine, needy and tender. He had learned long ago that he didn't need to be so aggressive because I wasn't going anywhere.

When he pulled away, he did so with the sound of a satisfied man, like I had somehow sated a thirst or a craving that he had been longing for. His ever-changing eyes were full of emotions as his lips turned up in a small grin. Shit, if he kept looking at me like that, I was in so much trouble and this weekend was going to be spent in the confines of his bedroom.

"Hello, Beautiful." His voice was sultry and, oh, heavens, two weeks was _too_ long.

"It's too quiet," I didn't back away, didn't bother to release him as my fingers found their own way under his shirt to trail along his skin and that small reminder of how we met.

"Dean's out for a beer run, Danni's looking for a chocolate cake, and Cas…" he stopped, looked a bit confused, or flustered, I wasn't sure which and stood straight. "How did you get here?"

"Same way I've been getting here for months, Sam, why what's wrong?"

He stepped back this time, picked the cup up and handed it to me before he grabbed the book and glanced up the five steps to the library tables. "Come on, I want to show you something."

The laptop was open, and the coffee was just the way I liked it, but then again, I might have adopted Sam's taste in its preparation, and he pulled out a chair for me to sit in. Getting comfortable, he grabbed the one next to me, moved the laptop so it was between us and sighed.

"Cas said something seemed off with the wardings the other day."

"Off? Off how?"

Sam sighed, "like something else got in."

"Okay, but the alarms didn't go off?"

"Nope, just…" he shifted, "watch this, let me know what you think."

The video started. It was Cas stepping up outside the door at the top of the stairs. The angel wards were back up, there was no way he could just pop in, so he had to go around through the garage and come in the front, but watching him, he seemed nervous.

He stepped up to the door, key in hand, paused, and looked up at the camera, the one Sam insisted they install after the whole Crowley making himself at home when everything was done and over with a few British asshats from an overseas chapter. Anyway, he inserted the key, gave it a quick turn right, left, and then right again before he looked turned and looked behind him at something off camera.

The door opened, he stepped through and the door closed, but something about it really did seem strange.

"Rewind it to when he looks up." And, Sam did. I took the laptop and hit the arrow keys, flipping through the screens until I stopped and watched as Cas' eyes lit up a bright blue. "Hey, Angel, why the light show?" Of course, he wasn't there to answer and Sam wasn't adding his two cents either. Moving on, I fast-forwarded to the spot where he looked behind him, and slow-moed it straight through until the door closed but that was when I saw it. "Huh."

"You see it?" Sam's voice was a breath in my ear and I nodded. Just after the door closed, a shimmering body seemed to walk right up and almost pass through, but it was stopped. Completely human in height and form, the shimmer turned and moved back, disappearing into the darkness. "So, there's that."

I sat back down, pondered over it for a moment and shook my head. "I got nothing." Sam shrugged, because apparently neither did they. "What happened after?"

"Come on, this is something you need to see."

Oh, God, this cannot be good.

Standing, I followed Sam down towards the kitchen but stopped at the top of the stairs as he made his way to the bottom and turned to look at me.

"I'm not going to need my blade for this, am I?" and I was being completely serious.

Sam smirked up at me, held out his hand, raising it for me to take. "No, you won't need to be armed."

"Cause I didn't bring a gun, I mean, I think I left it on your nightstand the last time I was here." I rattled out before I stretched and wrapped my fingers around his. Sam tugged me down a few steps so that we were actually eye to eye and his smile widened.

"I think you might find this to be a good thing, but, it's not just something I can blurt out." He kissed me softly on the forehead and stepped away, taking me with him as we headed straight for the kitchen.

I stopped in the doorway as he rounded the corner, released me and moved towards the body that stood in front of the sink. There was no way. No. Freaking. Way. Her blond hair was shorter than I remember, but she was the right height, the right build and as Sam stepped up beside her, whispered in her ear over the sound of the running water, I felt my heart beat hard against my chest.

She looked up at him, confused for a moment at the perfect grin on his perfect stupid face and then she turned towards me.

I couldn't breath.

"Del?" Her voice with my mother's name on it flashed me back. I was looking up at her, swollen with Sam in utero, Dean's hand locked in mine as my other pressed against her stomach.

"Mary?" And my world threatened to go black.

I felt Sam's hand on the back of my neck, and under my arm as I slumped against the wall. She moved closer, filling my sight with her, but I couldn't register the words that were coming from her mouth. She was speaking but all I could hear was my own blood.

"Ali," Sam's reassuring voice had me looking at him in a second, and that brought every sound back to me like a foghorn going off in my head. I stared at her, like I was going insane but she smiled, just the way I remember her doing it at the gas station all those year ago. "Come on, let's sit you down."

I found my way to the table on unsteady feet as Sam braced me against him but she slowly slid across from me and the staring match began.

"Mom, this is Ali." Sam whispered, squatting down beside me, not letting me go.

"Ali?" She knew the name, just not from where, until it clicked. "Alison? Alison Porter?"

"Del," I stuttered and swallowed to try and get some moisture in my cottonmouth. "Del is my mother." I shook my head and belted out the next thing that was on my mind. "You're dead, how the hell are you standing here?" Mary laughed, probably not the first time she had gotten that reaction since arriving. "I mean, when?"

The creak of the door upstairs could be heard from the kitchen and two sets of footsteps headed down the stairs.

"Luci, I'm home." Dean hollered and made his way into the kitchen. I stood quickly, maybe a little too fast, because my world wobbled but Sam held me straight and Dean stopped suddenly in the doorway, Danni putting on the breaks behind him. I watched his eyes go from Mary to me, back to his mom to finally land on me. "Oh, shit," was what he mumbled. "Hey, Kid."

"Don't _hey, kid_ me, Dean, what the hell? We talked last night. Last. Night. And you didn't bother to tell me your MOM had magically popped into reality?"

Dean put the beer on the table, looking past me at Sam before he raised his hands and stepped closer… slowly. My eyes finally left him, looked at the smile on Danni's face, and narrowed my eyes at her. Dean touched me before I realized just how close he was and then all I could see was green.

"You okay?" His voice was just a whisper.

I pouted, like a child, shifted my stance as his hands rested against my neck and I sighed, "no, not really."

He laughed, pulled me to him and held me close, using that link between us to calm me down. I looked over at Danni again, who had moved far enough to put the cake down on the table.

"Hey, sis." She smirked.

"Asshole." I mumbled, because how dare _she_ not tell me.

"I might deserve that, but Sammy said showing you might be better than just telling you over the phone." She opened her arms, the smile never leaving her blue eyes and Dean shifted me from him to her as I hugged her tightly.

"I hate you all." I mumbled into her shirt and relaxed. Mary cleared her throat, which got me to reluctantly turn around. She gave me a half smile and Danni let me go. Standing straight, I pulled a Dean move, brushing my hands over my jeans. "I'm sorry," I shrugged, "I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"Alison," she started.

"It's Ali," I whispered, and covered my mouth, like I didn't know where it had come from and she laughed.

"Ali, it's okay. You haven't seen me since you were six and with what the boys told me, I don't think anyone would react rationally. Um, dinner is almost done though, would you like to join us?"

"I'd love that." I nodded but took a deep breath and looked around. "But, if you don't mind, I just want to get settled first. It's been a long day, I'm just gonna go change."

I reached back and took Sam's hand, not waiting for an answer and tugged him out of the room. As we ducked down the hallway, I could hear her voice carry with a question on her lips.

"She's wearing a wedding ring, Dean, is she married?" And I looked up at Sam, who gave me a small grin and shrugged. Looks like he wasn't going to be the one to tell his mom anything without me there to back it up, and I was perfectly okay with that, even if the fact that she was standing there at all freaked me out just a bit. I never did hear Dean's reply.

Sam closed the door behind him as I moved towards the desk, turned and leaned against it. The moose of a man slowly approached and reached out, taking a gentle hold on my shirt. I rubbed my forehead, grabbed his wrist and tugged him just a little closer.

"I'm sorry." His voice was just a whisper as I faded off to that memory of meeting her.

"No," I sighed, looking up, "you were right to do it this way. I don't think I would have handled it well over the phone." Suddenly, I stood straight because what if she wasn't human, what if she was… "You did all the tests right, silver, holy water, the works? What if she's something new? What if…"

"Ali," he chuckled, like the big, fat loser he was for laughing at me, and bent his knees to accommodate our height distance. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but you sound just like Dean. He asked the same questions, we did the same tests and we had Cas look her over."

"You let the angel, who hasn't been anything less than flighty, look over your mom?" I rested my forehead on his chest and smiled.

"We let both of them." This got me to look up and he smiled.

"He's met your mom?" I stood up straight and stared as the grin on Sam's face got wider. "Where is he?"

"With Cas, he's safe." I knew he was safe, I knew he was with Cas, he was always with Cas, but that wasn't what I wanted to know. "Their in Idaho, working a case, he can't wait to see you."

That made my night. Or at least it had until Sam was kissing me again and the rest of the world was forgotten.

Let me explain who _he_ is. Not a month after we had gotten married on some beach that Cas had managed to pop the five of us to, we decided that taking on something just a bit bigger than John the Demon Dad was the best thing in the world. That thing, an archangel himself.

Michael had come back, but he wasn't our Michael. He wasn't our drooling, insane angel that had been locked in the cage with Lucifer for God only knows how many years, no this Michael was as sane as they came. Of course, that meant over the moon with powerlust and needed to be stopped.

Victory didn't come easy, in fact we lost a lot of hunters, and a lot of allies in the process, but we found out that he had one weakness. It was the reason he had come to this universe. Michael had ripped open a dimensional rift from his world to ours. Apparently, you do that when plans don't go your way and the outcome is not what you wanted. They rebelled where he was from and kicked his ass. Funny enough, so did we.

The little weakness he had, a young boy named Jack. What was special about this one? He was a nephilim, half-angel, half-human, and while his father wasn't the most upstanding angel, this kid was nothing but good. He was about eight months old when he arrived but was the size of a seventeen-year-old, and even better he was just as smart as Sam and Dean. With Jack's help, we were able to contain Michael, cage him up and send him back through the rift, and that was how Castiel ended up with an adopted son.

The boy took to his uncle like static, wanted to know everything, and then there was me. Having children at home, I became the unofficial aunt, that and a hunt gone bad that left both Jack and I trapped for several days without his powers in the middle of the Colorado mountains gave us time to bond. And bond we did. It was suddenly like I had another kid, one the same age as my middle one and I couldn't wait to introduce him.

Whenever I came over, Jack would _steal_ me for about three hours just to talk up what we've missed with each other, of course, that was if we hadn't seen each other during the weeks I wasn't there because Cas and I had an understanding. If I couldn't get Sam or Dean to help on a case, Cas and Jack were right there to assist. No one hunted alone.

Feeling particularly sated and a little sleepy, Sam lead me by the hand to the library where the table was set and Mary, Dean, and Danni were putting on the finishing touches. I walked up behind Danni and leaned over her shoulder as she poured the wine.

"None for me, thanks." I whispered, which had her standing straight and looking at me like I had twelve heads.

"You never say no to Sauvignon." She eyed me suspiciously.

"Tonight, I am," I shrugged and my eyes went to Mary, who was talking quietly to Sam. Danni got it, I knew she would.

"You've been out in your own little world too long if you think the boys didn't check her over well enough to make sure she was human." Danni sighed, put the bottle down and turned to me. Her eyes scanned me over, like Dean used to do in the past, looking for new battle scars, so, I stepped back and opened my arms. "Weird, you seem strangely in one piece."

"Oddly," I laughed as I walked up and took the bottle from the table to continue pouring, "you look content and happy. That only took a year."

"I told you we would figure it out." She grinned and I shook my head. Her figuring it out was how to deal with Dean and I and the obsessive nature of this stupid tether. The phone calls could be a bit much when we were in moods but since they could be felt along the lines it was hard to resist reaching out when the other needed it.

"I noticed when he didn't get up in arms about the ghoul last week." I nodded, rounding the table to get the glasses on the other side when Dean came out with what looked like a roast.

"That was stupid, by the way," she scolded and all I could manage was to shrug, it was in the past and everything turned out alright. "Jones still finding you cases?"

"Still trying to do his best from that damn bed, yeah. His daughter is taking over. She's a bit squirrely but just as determined as her dad. Guess that's what happens when you're raised in the life." Putting the empty bottle down, I had managed to make it back to the same side as her and couldn't help the smile on my face. "You look good."

"It's been two weeks, why do you make it out to seem like a lifetime?"

"In our lives, two weeks can be forever." I shrugged, patted her on the shoulder and looked up as Dean scanned us over with narrow eyes.

"You never pass up Sauvignon," was the only words that came out of his mouth as he stared at me and I shrugged.

"It's not a wine night." I laughed and pulled out the chair as Sam stepped by me. Dean nodded.

"Beer?" That got a laugh from him as I made a face at the thought. "There's Kahlua."

"Dean," his name was more like a whisper. "I'm fine."

"Ah-huh," he snarked and pulled out his chair, sitting down, "we'll talk about that later. Come on," he addressed the rest of them, "let's eat."

Dinner was… oddly domestic. The conversation flowed lightly avoiding topics that might set off chain reactions until Mary cleared her throat.

"So, Ali," she started and I stopped, my eyes going up from the forkful of food to her. "You're wearing a wedding ring, were you married."

"Um," I glanced at Sam, who winked, the bastard. "Actually, I'm married now."

"And… you're here? What," she paused and I could see her scanning over the way Sam looked at me. There was a judgement in her eyes that made me want to smile. "What does your husband say about you being here with Sam."

"God, I hope it's not _oh, baby, I need you._" Dean mumbled under his breath without looking up. I rolled up a napkin and threw it at him, now that got him to look at me. "Hey, what gives?"

"Don't call me Baby, even in snarky comments." I laughed and watched him shake his head, move the napkin from his food and throw it back. I turned to Mary, tried to school my expression but I couldn't help it. "Sam is my husband."

Mary looked at Sam, who was now staring at his plate but there was a big smile on his face that nothing would be able to touch for days. He had his head ducked, taking in those last words and I watched him take a breath before looking up at her. He gave a little nod before his eyes caught mine.

"You're married?" Mary whispered.

"Ah," it came out as if he were going to start a speech but all he finished with was, "yeah."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"We… I thought it would be nice to tell you while we were all together." Sam stated and cleared his throat. "I wanted you to meet her before I told you about it."

"Okay," and there was a pregnant pause, "so, tell me about it. Did you have a big ceremony? How many people were there? Can I see pictures?"

And that got Dean to drop his fork. "Actually, Mom, no one but us and Cas know about it. Well, her kids, but they don't…"

She was staring at all of us. Oh, I knew this was going to be a thing. "Okay, I'm going to explain, just…" Mary stared at me, still having the _mom_ look after all these year. "Sam and I didn't want a big thing, in fact, to keep us both safe, we decided against it. Cas officiated the wedding, it was just the three of us, Danni and Dean and we did it on purpose. The only photos we have are on our phones, or at my house and there isn't any fancy rings or ring photos. They look like vacation shots. Really, Mary, this was the best way. No one knows we're linked like that and there's a reason for it."

"What reason could there be to keep your marriage a secret?" She snapped and oh, did I know that fury was coming. I looked at Danni for help. How do you explain the whole God Killers thing to her? The fact that we had forgotten each other for that many months? Even the target put on our back because of our lineage, but it was Dean who shifted to defend us.

"Mom, what we do is dangerous. She has kids, kickass kids, but they're too young to be pulled in. It's the best way to protect them and honestly, what does it matter who knows. Sam and Ali love each other. Seriously, it's disgustingly cute, but it doesn't need to be put on display."

Way to go, Dean, and with that Sam took my hand. "It was our choice, as a family, the five of us made it together, Mom, it stays between us, just like always."

She sat quietly for a moment but I wasn't one to be deterred because the roast was actually pretty good and I smiled up at Dean, catching his eye because I knew he had made it. He blinked with embarrassment, catching my praise along the tether and quickly took a swig of the beer in front of him.

There wasn't anything else mentioned as the conversation went back to light chatter between us, but I had lost more than my will to eat after a few bites, I had also lost my need to join in. Maybe it was a bit too much, or maybe, just maybe that video was still bugging me.

Thirty minutes after the table was cleared and Dean and Mary stood in the kitchen doing the dishes as Sam put away leftovers, I stood in the library room marked 12C down the corridor to the right through the main library door. Shuffling through books quickly, I knew I had run into something that resembled the shimmering body before in my exploration of the many archives that filled the building.

I had just gotten to book six when the door opened and Danni stood at the top of the stairs, grinning down at me.

"I know this was a shock," she started as she came down to sit on the edge of the table when I finally went back to flipping through the pages.

"Nothing really shocks me anymore with these guys." I smiled as I slipped the book back up on the shelf and grabbed another one five books down. I moved out and placed the large book on the table, flipped it open and started skimming pages. "Just… her responses…"

"Never thought anyone would really question what we do, huh?"

I smiled and shook my head, "I guess I've just been in it so long with the way it is to think anyone would see if differently."

"No one else matters except us, you know that, right?" She was trying to catch my attention and those words definitely did it. I crossed my arms, sighed and turned to her.

"When did she show up?"

"Sam showed you the video?"

"Yeah, and that's got my mind going."

"Of course, it does." She grinned, a typical _now that I have your full attention_ move that had me shaking my head. "Less than twenty-four hours. The exterior alarms went off about two in the morning. Supernatural activity out on the road. When Sam and Dean made it out there, she was just standing there, dressed in that white nightgown she had been wearing. I saw her when they brought her in. She's completely one-hundred percent human."

"And resurrected." I rubbed my temples. "I mean, come on, this is the Winchesters we're talking about, this crap happens all the time, but never has anyone been brought back after thirty-six years. What did they do? Rip her right out of…"

I stopped dead. Oh, no.

"What?" Danni whispered and I turned back to the rows, leaving the book on the table as I moved down to the end and hooked a left. In the corner of one of the shelves, I snatched a book up and brought it out. "What is it?"

A book, simply titled in Latin "Death and Rebirth," was set down gently on the table and I flipped through it with ease. Yes, with all the shit that we had gone through, this was actually one of the books that I had read. I stopped, read over a page in silence and closed my eyes.

"This isn't a revisit to "Dean Men Don't Wear Plaid," is it?" She groaned and I looked up at her, shaking my head.

"No, no, I think it's a little simpler than that." I began to pace, because this was just weird. The shimmering should have given it away but it had taken me this long to figure it out. "Um, aethers…"

"Greek mythology?"

"Right," I snapped, but inside my head was going a mile a minute. "So, aethers are old spirits, about as old as well, God, but this is the thing, they're can be as powerful as archangels, they're just… extra."

"Not following." She shook her head, and it wasn't that she couldn't keep up with my train of thought, it was more that I was rambling.

I stopped again, staring right up at her and put it simply, "I think an aether brought back Mary."

"Why?"

"That I'm not sure of yet, but the fact that it didn't enter the bunker, followed Cas... the fact that there was just something… weird."

"Are you saying Mary is supernatural?"

"No, I'm saying what brought her back was, and probably answering to a higher calling. God, Chuck, whoever, decided that Mary needed to come back now, that the boys needed her for some reason. Most angels are powerful enough to resurrect the dead, most archangels can pull one out of heaven but since there are so few left and Gabe is in the wind, that only leave aethers, his hidden army."

"You're more of a nerd than Sam." She shook her head, but I watched as it all sunk in. "So, is it bad?"

"No," I sighed, finally coming to a stop, "no, it's just a matter of figuring out why. Maybe…" I focused on her, or more to the point, on a spot beside her, "maybe it has to do with Jack."

"You think Jack had something to do with it?"

"We were talking..." and there went her eyes, rolling backwards.

"Of course you were."

"Do you mind?" which was really just a sarcastic bite back at her and she smiled. "So, we were talking about parents and what the meaning of them were and he asked about her, I mean, really asked. I told him I only knew some, but Dean was the one to talk to if he really wanted to find out more."

"You think Jack did this?"

"No, no, I'm still going with aethers, but think about it, who has more of a link to the Big Guy than his grandson, one of the most powerful beings on the planet. His father was an archangel, that makes Jack some sort of… I mean, Jack is Jack, but..."

"Okay, don't hurt yourself."

"Girls?" Dean's voice echoed down the hallway and both of us looked up at the door.

I pointed at her. "Not a word."

"Scouts honor." She grinned and winked as I grabbed the book and put it away. I moved up the steps to stand beside her.

"You were never a scout." I laughed.

"No, but I slept with one once."

"Sinner." I snickered and watched as the door opened wider. Standing there, eyeing us over like he was trying to figure out just what kind of trouble we were getting into, was Dean. He took a breath, crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Sam wants cake," Dean spoke softly, evenly as he looked right at Danni, but then his gaze shifted to me, "and coffee is ready, so, why don't you two trouble makers come join us."

"I'll help Mary with the plates." Danni smiled, her way of excusing herself as she kissed Dean lightly on the lips and took off like a bat out of hell. Figures. He raised a brow, a gesture I mimicked back with a smile.

"Your demon is showing." He whispered, but I knew he didn't mean my actual demon, she was locked away good and tight. I rolled my eyes and stepped out into the hallway with him. "What are you doing hiding in a storage room?"

"Had a case come up that I needed some input on, you guys have the stuff I need here so, I thought I would work on it a little bit." I answered, nonchalantly as we moved through the hallway, side by side.

"So, it has nothing to do with Mom?" I turned to him quickly, pushed him back against the wall with one hand and held him there, well, not really, but he didn't fight against it. "It's okay to be freaked out."

"I'm not freaking out, Dean." I snapped and watched the smile lines crinkle around his eyes.

"Tether, remember?" He snarked and I dropped my hand.

"Alright, fine, maybe a little." Dean brushed my cheek with his fingers, slipped them into my hair and pulled me into a hug. "I miss this when I'm gone."

"Me too," he leaned down and spoke against my head as he kissed the top of his and sighed. "The kid misses you too. I called Cas to see if they were on their way back, but there's no answer."

"It's okay, I still have two more days." My arms wrapped around his waist and I let my weight fall on him. "You doing okay?"

"Could be worse, could be better, but hey," he moved to wrap his hands around my arms and push me back. I smiled up at him. "I'm alive, I'm breathing. I got you, Danni, Sammy, Cas, Jack and now Mom, life is peaches and cream."

"Gross." I shivered and he took my hand, shaking his head, as he lead me down the hallway.

Cake and coffee was fantastic, even with all the strange little quirks of being there with Mary, but it quietly turned into the five of us finding our ways to our rooms, which lead to me standing in one of Sam's flannels as I went through his DVD collection, while he relaxed on the bed, just the covers over his waist. I wouldn't have been dressed at all, but the bunker was made of concrete and the floors, despite the rugs, were cold under my feet.

"Lord of the Rings?" I asked, looking back at him, but he just stared at me and slowly shook his head. I flipped through them again. "Harry Potter?" Again, just a little shake. I put down the movies and headed towards the bed, crawling up his legs before I was able to straddle them. Sam smiled up at me, his hands still up above his head where he had moved them. "I know that look, and as much as I would love to think that a few days off from me would give you phenomenal rebound time, I know you're not ready to go for round two, Sam Winchester, so what is that look for?"

"You're beautiful." He whispered, and it was just the right tone that it made me shiver.

"You're not so bad looking yourself." I leaned down, placed my arms across his chest and kissed his chin.

"I've been thinking," he sighed as I moved my attention down over his collarbones, running my fingers over the silky hair on his chest, "about the kids coming to live here again. I know we discussed it but Jack…"

"Sam, as much as I would love all four of those beautiful kids in one place, we can't move any of them. Jack belongs here, with his dads." I flicked at his nipple, catching it with my fingernail as he squirmed under me, his hands landing softly on my shoulders.

"Cas…" he sucked in a breath as my tongue followed, "Cas is his only Dad. Dean and I are like his uncles."

"Ah-huh, that know everything about him like fathers would, Sam," I laughed, "you're not fooling me."

"It's just…" He moaned as I sealed my lips around him and sucked hard. "It's just that he needs kids, more kids and…" the hiss that I pulled from him made me smile as I raked my teeth across his swollen nip. "Danni… is the best," his hips rolled up into my stomach and I could feel how hard he was. Guess he does have that kind of bounce back. "But you're a mom… of teenagers." I found myself suddenly flipped onto my back as Sam towered above me, shifting in between my legs as he settled. "You're making this very hard to have a serious conversation with you."

"Just doing my job," I teased and watched the playfulness flash in his eyes. His hand skimmed over my body and slipped between us. I felt him line up, push in just a bit so that I could feel him resting there. "No way!" He grinned and gave a gentle push. "Ut-uh, no way, buddy. We are not having a conversation about kids, your brother, my sister, and/or Cas while you're…"

I moaned the further in he slipped, and his lips took charge. Sam had always been Sam, not quite in control, just a little bit of demanding, but tonight, he was all give. Everything he did was just to get that rise out of me, to get that noise, even as his arm hooked under my leg, pulling it up closer to my chest and his lips pressed against my ear while he whispered.

"Shh, no noise, remember," but his laugh was just this side of teasing as he reached between us and flicked at me clit, which got a moan and a few loud swears. "Don't want Dean to come in and think you broke your foot again, do you?"

Oh, that had been fun. Wandering around in the dark, soon after I had started sleeping over, I kicked the chair in Sam's room, cursed at the top of my lungs, and moaned out the pain, which was about the same time that Sam woke up and Dean burst through the door. The issue wasn't the pain, or the broken foot, it was the fact that I was naked, and pissed.

I yanked on Sam's hair, tugging his lips back to mine as he increased his thrusts, trying to drown out the sounds before I let myself go, clenching around him as he smiled, grunted and slowed his pace. Like I said, I didn't know he bounced back that fast, I really didn't know he had a second one in him either, but when he gently lowered my leg and came to rest, covering my body, I was very happy to find out he did.

"You're not going to start talking about kids again, are you?" I whispered, fully sated and ready for at least a few hours, and thankfully, he huffed out a breath, shook his head and relaxed. "Good."

SATURDAY

Sleep lasted long enough for me to shift out from under him, curl up on my side and get completely comfortable, and put in a few hours sleep, but it was the small tugs on the tether that had me blinking my eyes open sometime during the night. I reached for my phone, looked at the time and sighed.

4:30.

Glancing back over my shoulder, I knew Sam was still deep asleep by the way his eyes moved, and I slowly sat up, grabbed the flannel, slipped on a pair of shorts that I purposely kept by the bed, and headed out down the hall.

Passing by room 11, I peeked in the slightly opened door and smiled at Danni, who was laying passed out on her stomach before I headed straight for the kitchen. Smiling, I stopped in the doorway, and looked over Dean, who sat with his arms crossed, his forehead resting on them and a hot cup of coffee in front of him.

He sat up as I stepped behind him, and leaned his head back as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his forehead.

"Bad dreams?" I whispered, though no one was awake at this time, I still didn't feel that anything needed to be louder than that. Dean nodded, his eyes closed, as his hands came up to wrap his fingers around mine. "Figured, this is usually about the time you call."

"M'sorry," he mumbled, just like every other time. "I can't block it."

"I don't want you to block it, Dean. We've talked about this. You need me, you call, I need you, I call. If it's not something we can handle over the phone, we find each other. It's been this way for over a year, it's not going to change now." I smiled and shifted, moving to sit beside him, but that only got me wrapped in his arms and pulled against his side. "So, what was it?"

He took a deep breath, never really wanting to talk about it, but he knew I would get it out of him eventually, and slowly let it out. "Metal box in the middle of the ocean."

"Any particular reason for it?"

"Stupid Twenty-Thousand Leagues movie," he huffed and rested his cheek on my head. "I'm glad you're here."

"I'm here every two weeks, Dean." I laughed, but I knew what he meant, the whole transition from the two of them, to the three, to suddenly being being a parent again was hard on him. He always thought he was going to mess Jack up, that he had messed Sam up, or some form of the two, but he didn't see himself like I did, or like Danni did. He never saw himself as the hero. "Gonna stay awake this time?"

"Dunno," he huffed. "Maybe."

"Wanna try going back to bed?"

"Ina minute." he sighed and slowly I felt his weight grow heavier.

"Dean," I smiled.

"Hmm?"

"Come on, I'll walk you back to your room."

It was always funny to help Dean to bed, even funnier when Danni rolled her eyes as me when I pulled the covers down over him, and practically landed on top of her as well, since he wasn't ready to let go.

So, this was how it went because that tug would put me between them and Danni would roll over, snuggle up against my back and for a few hours, I was nestled in the warmth of my overprotective sister and Dean freaking Winchester.

Unfortunately, it came with a price this time, since I hadn't managed to close the door because I hadn't planned on staying, and Mary happened to peek in as I lay there, staring at the ceiling still unable to untangle myself from the limbs of my captors, not that I cared, group cuddles were always fun.

I looked over at her as she stopped, completely confused as I raised a hand, the one thing I had control over and gave her a small way. The shocked look on her face as almost comical, but the strange way she turned and bolted made me realize this probably wasn't something she was comfortable with.

I pushed at Dean's leg, one of the weights that held me down at the waist as he curled up and around my right side so that he was nearly using the top of my head as a pillow. He groaned in his sleep.

"Move, Winchester," I growled softly at him, having just enough room to get close enough to his ear. "I have to pee."

He humphed at me, stretched, and shifted, which released me from that side. Danni seemed to snuggle into my arm just a little more at the feeling of freedom and I smiled, took her arm from my stomach and slowly maneuvered her so she was hugging herself before I used my ninja skills to climb over her.

Of course, that was as far as my ninja skills went since I tripped over the blanket and nearly met my fate on Dean's ugly green carpet. I heard him snicker from the bed as I got to my feet and he scooted closer to Danni. Shaking my head, I flipped him off, closing the door this time as I left the room.

Quietly, as if to not raise suspicion that I was awake, I snuck down the hall and slipped into mine and Sam's room, where I turned and came face to face with the grinning, wide awake moose himself. He was sitting on his bed, slipping on his sleep pants, and I leaned against the door to catch my breath for a moment before he tossed a pair of warmer ones in my direction. The shorts I wore did nothing for the draft.

"Nightmares, again?" Sam whispered as I yanked the legs up and sighed.

"Claustrophobia with a hint of thalassophobia." I mumbled and rubbed my eyes.

"Dean thought he was trapped at the bottom of the ocean?" I nodded, moved and sat by him, using the fact that I weighed all about nothing to let him hold me up. His arm snaked around me, pulling me onto his lap as he shook his head. "I think things have gotten worse. He's had that one before."

"Well, fear of what your mom is going to say about me being in bed with them and not with you trumps any fear of the water in my book." Sam giggled, and I smacked his chest, not hard, mind you, but enough so that he got the point. "She saw... the door was open. I hadn't planned on staying, just getting Dean settled."

"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me," his finger came down under my chin, tilting my head back so that he could look down at me and the sparkle in those blue-green eyes made me smile. "I love you, I love Dean, we've been through this. It's okay."

I took in a deep breath, let the scent of him fill my lungs, and slowly exhaled. "I need coffee."

"Me too." He whispered, leaning down to kiss me softly before he was back to stargazing in my eyes again. "But," his forehead rested on mine, "we're not going to get anywhere if you're so close except back in bed with you making some definite not-safe-for-mom noises."

"Round three, Mr. Winchester, what are you on? Angel mojo?" I laughed, before kissing him and reluctantly scooting off his lap.

I grabbed the brush, ran it through my hair, and before I knew it we were headed down towards the kitchen. As suspected, the pot was going, a massive twelve-cup machine, and Mary was sitting at the table with a mug in hand. She looked up as both Sam and I entered, but again looked at me strangely when I moved to the table and he poured two cups.

Sitting down beside me, he placed the cup down in front of me. I whispered a quiet _thank you_ before grabbing the flavored powdered creamer and dumped a little in the cup. Mary's eyes never left me. Sam cleared his throat after a few minutes of silent contemplation over coffee and Mary's eyes finally found his.

"I thought maybe a small road trip would be cool today." Sam whispered, but Mary's face didn't change.

"Road trip where?" I gave a little smirk, but didn't look up to meet her eyes.

"I don't know, maybe Sioux Falls?" That one I did look up at. Jody was out that way, with the girls, and I hadn't seen her in forever, her or Donna. I nodded and watched the smile light up his face.

"Why were you sleeping with Dean?"

I knew that was coming. I cleared my throat and looked up at her. "I didn't sleep with him, I was sleeping in the same bed with him, and Danni."

"I realize that, but why?" The inevitable was coming, the need to explain everything and I, for one, wasn't up for rehashing the past, how we got here or how long it took all of us to get used to it.

"Dean has nightmares, Mom, and he has a connection with Ali that helps keep them away." Sam explained, his voice soft, like he was talking to Jack, or Joseph. He had a way with both boys that seemed to calm them. "That's why she was with Dean last night."

"And, you're okay with this?" She was either confused or angry, I couldn't get a read on her face.

"Mom, this has been going on since we met, a little over two years, I'm fine with it. I know where Ali and I stand, I wouldn't have married her if I didn't. Dean trusts her, he loves her, I'm not going to get in the way of that connection. Dean needs it."

"He has his own woman, Sam."

"Who is also completely fine with it or she wouldn't have been in bed with either of them." Sam's tone changed just a little and I reached over and placed a hand on his leg, trying to calm the nervous bounce that had started. "Look, with all the hell we've been through, if what we got out of it is a stronger bond between the four of us, great, it's not messing anything up."

"It doesn't seem right." She shook her head, judging eyes on me and I smiled.

"When does anything in this world seem right?" I winked, having had enough crap and nowhere near enough coffee to be having a mother-in-law argument this early in the morning, I stood up, took my mug, leaned down and kissed Sam on the cheek. "I have some stuff to look up, I'll be in my usual hiding spot."

Refreshing my coffee, I grabbed the warm sweater that was hanging by the door, and slipped it on before I walked off down the hall, headed back to 12C. The hooks in the kitchen had always been there, but they were more for towels in the beginning, but once the boys found out I was always cold, they started keeping sweaters there, a minimum of three, at all times.

I had managed to pull out no less than four books, all opened to various pages, when the door creaked open and I looked up from the one that I held in my arms, open to yet another page that I was studying. Sam walked in, this time a travel mug of coffee in his hands, gesturing to me that it was mine.

I placed the book down, moved towards him and stood there as he sat on the steps. He handed me the mug, which I set on the table by the door, far away from the books and stood between his legs.

"I'm sorry." he sighed, placing his hands on my hips while I did the same to his shoulders.

"For having an overprotective mother, nothing to be sorry about." I kissed him on the forehead and took in the expression on his face. "What?"

"I gave her your journal." This I stepped back from and narrowed my eyes at him.

"My purple one? The Oklahoma slash "how I met my Sammy" journal?" I moved to stand before the table and watched as he looked down at his fingers before nodding. "Good." This got his attention and he looked up, brow furrowed as he stared. "Probably explains Dean and I better than anything we could come up with."

"I thought you'd be upset." I saw the conflict on his face, stopped what I was doing and walked back over.

Running a hand through his hair, I gripped a handful and tugged his hair back before placing my freehand against his throat. Sam growled low, a noise that had my heart racing as his eyes locked on mine.

"I could never be mad at you for something like that, Sammy," I whispered softly, released his hair to caress over his face. "I did this by not thinking about the consequences of last night, but please don't think I would ever be mad because someone else can't… she doesn't know us, or at least she doesn't know me, so giving her a journal to figure _us_ out is not a bad things."

His hands came up, slid over my hips and he pulled me forward to sit on his lap. "I just want a weekend with us, just us."

"We have those." He placed his head on my shoulder, nose against my neck and let the tension ease from his shoulders.

"We don't, not really." I moved my touch from his throat and wrapped my arms around him.

"Hey," Dean's rough voice echoed through the room and I looked up from where I sat to see him standing in the doorway. "Cas is back." I smiled up at him just because of the pitch of his voice. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we'll be out soon." He nodded, looked over the fact that Sam hadn't move to even acknowledge him, and gave a sigh.

"Okay," and with that, he walked away. I gave Sam's hair a tug again, making him look up and I smiled.

"Our boys are home," I whispered, kissing him softly, "let's forget your mom and go say hi."

He hmm-ed against my lips and nodded before I kissed him quickly three more times.

He stood there in the middle of the floor, his eyes going from one doorway to the next in a specific pattern, but he hadn't moved to put away his things. Cas leaned against the map table, Dean against the column for the library steps and Danni had a fresh cup of coffee in her hands, feet up on the table with a wide smile on her face.

Mary looked completely confused as to why everyone was just standing around.

I stepped up from the kitchen, Sam close behind and stopped just a few feet out to let the tall hunter by. Jack's eyes hit the doors in the library, the entrance to the hallway and then came to land right on mine.

The smile that graces his lips could have lit up a room, and it was contagious because suddenly not only was Dean smiling, but Cas actually had a thousand-watt grin on his face. Jack's arms came up as I stepped closer and suddenly I was trapped in the strong embrace of a Nephilim. Jack's head was on my shoulders and if he had been small enough, I would have picked him up and held him to me like I used to do with my kids, but as it was, he was just as tall as Cas.

"Hi," he laughed, "I'm so happy you're here."

"Hey there, Baby Boy," but I only called him that in a whisper as I placed my lips against the back of his head, smelling the shampoo that he had used, which I was pretty sure was Dean's. Jack laughed because the nickname was strictly between us. "How was your trip?"

Jack stood, narrowed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. "I'll never understand Idaho."

And with that cackle from Dean, the group split. Dean and Danni headed for the library, Sam and Mary were right behind them but there was detour off to some parts unknowns and Cas approached me with a grin.

I stepped back from Jack, let the angel put his hands on my cheeks and kiss me softly on the lips before he then kissed my forehead and disappeared down the hall with the two bags he had grabbed after he let me go.

Jack took my hand and pulled me to the map table, where the two of us sat down and talked about nothing, everything, and Idaho until lunch, when Danni decided that we were getting enough exercise with our minds and not our bodies.

"Food run," she grinned when Jack and I sat back and looked up at her. "You two coming?"

"I would like a shower, if it's okay." He looked at me when he said that and I grinned. Just like Joseph is so many ways.

"Jack, you've been gone a few days, the road can suck, so, yeah, go shower and relax." He stood and went to walk by but I reached out and took his hand. "Hey, after you're done, have Dean put on She-Ra in his room for you."

"Really?" That damn smile got me everytime.

"Yeah, don't worry, he'll do it." I tried to hold in the laugh. Jack nodded before bounding off down the hall. My gaze went up to Danni, who was just shaking her head. "What?"

"You're asking for trouble." She sighed.

"Ah, the princess of power will be totally up his alley." I stood and followed her up the stairs and out the door, making the connection to the garage. "Did you tell Sam and Dean?"

"Yeah, who do you think sent me to drag you along."

"Good call, I could use a little fresh air." We stepped up to the cars parked before us. Sam's Charger, Dean's Impala, and… "You changed the color of the Mustang?"

"Well, yes and no." She walked over to the driver's side and got in, which completely baffled me. I moved over and slid in, still staring at her. "It needed a paint job, so Dean repainted it."

"Need a paint job? Dan, this thing was pristine." She hit the button on the door, letting it open before she put the car in gear and we headed out.

"Was…" she shrugged, "it was pristine, until some damn were went and raked it's filthy claws down the hood."

"What? When?"

She smiled at my shock and shrugged. "Don't worry, I got sixty points from it."

"Screw off! You didn't even tell me and I don't want to know about the morbid game of points that you and Dean have going, you should have said something." I don't know why it bothered me so much but the smile faded from her face as we made our way into Lebanon. When she pulled over, she put the car in park and turned in the seat.

"Relax, no one was hurt."

"Not the point!" I took a breath to even out and found myself shaking.

"It's not like we aren't faced with this all the time, Ali, I just don't know why you're…" she stopped as I suddenly turned away and drew in a breath. "Hey," her hand was on my arm, "what's going on?"

"Nothing," I cleared my throat and looked at her. "Between Dean's nightmares and my own, things have just been… they've been hard, kinda like I'm living in a half-awake state."

"Have you told Sam?" I knew that look, dammit. "You told Dean."

"Yeah, I told Dean." I sighed and rubbed my head because, ugh! "Sam would want to get down to the research part of it, but I honestly think it's just feeding off the tether. Dean's heads been pretty dark lately, and it's… it's got to be that."

"Okay, well, here's what we're going to do," she sighed, grabbed the keys and opened the door. "We're going to go shopping for dinner, pie, and beer, and when we get back, you're going to tell Sam."

She got out of the car without waiting and I sat there for a moment stunned before I got out and slammed it shut, following her into the grocery store.

"No, ut-uh, you're not allowed to big sister me and then run the hell away, Danni!" I slowed as people started to stare and Danni grinned back at me while she pushed the cart down the aisles. I stepped up beside her and took a deep breath. "I'll tell Sam, just not right now. This weekend has been intense as it is and I kinda want to enjoy the goober before I go home."

"Did you just call Sam a goober?" Danni stopped dead, looking at me with a smile.

"Asshole." I rolled my eyes and the two of us made our way through the store until we had everything Dean might possibly need for his famous burgers. We checked out, put the food in the car and headed over to the liquor store, where Danni grabbed a bottle of bourbon and a twelve pack of beer. "So…"

I opened the door to the car, ready to continue my question, but I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. By the edge of the store across the street, a humanoid shape shimmered into the alley.

I closed the door, glanced both ways quickly and made for the darkness with Danni right behind me, or at least, I thought, but as I stepped between the buildings, there was nothing but blackness.

Slowly, the light began to build around me until I found myself standing in an open field, one that I recognized and I threw my hands in the air.

"Just freaking perfect!" Looks like I was _Mary Poppins_ again. Sighing, I turned and looked around me. There was nothing but grass as far as I could see, and even then, there were trees in the distance. Nothing to tell me where I was. I pulled the phone out of my pocket, dialed a number and placed it to my ear. "Hey."

"_What the actual hell?"_ Danni's voice barked.

"I have no idea." I shook my head and sighed. "Go home, I'm going to call Cas."

"_I thought you learned to stop chasing shadows."_

"Apparently, not well enough." I opened my eyes once more, listened to the phone disconnect and tried again to figure out just what had happened, but one last turn put me face to face with the Demon King. "Hello, Crowley."

"Hello, Poppet." He grinned and raised a brow. "What are you doing?"

"Apparently, chasing shadows," I shrugged, showing him the phone, "according to her."

"Ah, but you're not. You're chasing an aether." He tilted his head just a bit, "but you knew that already, didn't you? That wildly intelligent brain is going to get you killed one of these days."

"The thing I don't understand is why, where the hell Mary came from, and where I am now?"

"Lawrence." Crowley said, as if it didn't matter, and I found myself staring at him. "Anything that has to do with those boys always starts in Lawrence, you should know that by now."

"So, whoever called the aether…"

"Did it from here, yes."

"And the reason Mary is back is because..."

"She died here, yes."

"So, if we get rid of the aether here…

"We won't know if she goes back to heaven or not, no."

"Well, this blows." I sat down on the ground and crossed my legs while looking up at him. "Do you know who called it?"

"It's a damn aether, a spin-off of the Almighty's original design, I'm staying far away from them, thank you very much, and with what's balled up inside you, I suggest you do the same." What Crowley did next was not something I had expected. He sat down and mimicked my position. "Listen, Angel, whatever brought back Mommy Dearest is not something you should be worried about, Feathers is quite capable of handling it all on his own. What I want from you is to try and do something else for me."

"So, you're taking me off my mission to put me on yours? Typical." I sighed and leaned back on my arms. He looked around, as if he were waiting and I gave in. "Well, what is it?"

"Enjoy yourself." His stare caught me and I shook my head. "You have been fighting this for too long, and now, I want you to enjoy yourself locked away in that bunker with those buffoons for as long as possible."

"What aren't you telling me?" I watched him sigh, get angry, and suddenly stand. "Crowley!" I followed suit and stood directly in his path. "What's coming?"

"Nothing good." He sighed, reached out and put his hand on my shoulder, popping me right to the entrance of the bunker as the Mustang rolled down the road towards the garage. With his hand on my cheek, he leaned in and placed his forehead against mine. "Please, I don't beg often, and never for something as trivial as this, but I am asking you, begging you to do what I need you to do."

"Stay inside, lock the doors, don't leave," I sighed, "got it."

"Thank you." And with that, he was gone.

Danni came around the corner, bags in hand and thrust two of them at me before she adjusted the twelve-pack. "Please, tell me that wasn't Crowley." I stared at her in silence. "That was Crowley, wasn't it?" Silence again. "I hate you."

"You love me." I laughed as the two of use entered the bunker.

Food came and went. Danni and Jack played Uno at the map table while Dean assisted and Mary and Sam took on something in one of the empty rooms down the hall, but it was Cas that found me pacing up in the library, moving from one end of the long tables to another. He paused at the end, his head tilted just so, his eyes narrowed at me as if he could see right through me and he sighed… loudly.

"What are you not telling me?" I asked, stepping straight up to him, keeping my voice low as I looked past them to the three at the table. Cas reached out, cupped my elbow and lead me to the back of the room to stand in front of the telescope.

"I assume Crowley informed you of the aether."

"I knew about it before he opened his mouth, Cas, I'm not stupid."

"I never suggested…" he paused, "I meant he told you about where it originated from?"

"Yeah, but I don't get it, why Mary?"

"The angels aren't sure on that yet."

"Cas, if we sent this thing back, what happens to her?"

"I'm not one hundred percent sure."

"Then we should leave it."

"You want to leave an aether?" he seemed puzzled by it.

"Has it done anything else?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"And Mary isn't going to go all zombie and want to kill the boys right? I mean she is human."

"I haven't seen any evidence to the contrary, no."

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and sighed, "I haven't either."

"You would have felt is she were… different, correct?"

"Yeah, I still get those tingles all the way up to my Spidie senses but there's nothing remotely supernatural about Mary Winchester." I shook my head. "So, until it does something else, we should leave it."

"Crowley suggested this?"

"No, Crowley told me to bunker down with the boys and enjoy myself. I'm the one that made up my mind about the no harm, no foul spiritual being." Cas seemed to tighten his jaw, stare me down and let out a huff before he nodded. "Listen, I don't like how it happened, but the boys have their mom back, how many times in a lifetime does that happen, and don't you dare say anything about a Winchester trait."

"I wasn't going to reference how many times we've had to pull them back from death," Cas moved over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down to look up at me. "I was going to suggest possibly arming her with as much as we could while she's here, if she's staying."

"If?"

"She knew them as children. As much as she seems to be adjusting, she's having a hard time seeing them as more than merely boys." I grabbed the chair across from him and nodded. He had a point. "I was planning on taking Jack back on the road."

"What? Why?"

"To give you time."

"I don't need time, Cas," I whispered, leaning on the table, "Sam was just talking about bringing the kids here again, so Jack could be around children, or bringing Jack back with me, but I told him I couldn't take him from you."

"He does seem to enjoy his time with the three of yours immensely." I smiled at him as Cas grinned, remembering back to their last visit. "I don't believe I've ever seen a bigger mess in your kitchen."

"That was all you, buddy, all you." Cas looked up at me and shook his head. "Yes, it was because you were the one that thought making pudding was a spectacular idea and none of you even bothered to ask how to use the hand mixter."

"I still believe that machine was possessed." He stated quite matter-of-factly. I burst out laughing because he was straight face and deadpanned.

Dean moved up behind Cas, put his hands on the angel's shoulders and looked at me as I wiped my eyes. "Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not." I stood and looked around, stretching, before I caught the older Winchester staring at the little sliver of skin that was revealed. He quickly turned away and I knew just what was going on. "Hey," I whispered, but his caught my eyes and his smile faded when I gestured to him, "com'ere."

Cas only gave a slight smile as Dean rounded the table. He stopped not more than a foot and a half from me and sighed. I reached out, grabbed his flannel shirt, that ugly white and red one and tugged him towards me.

The breath he let out when he hugged me told me all I needed to know and his whole body seemed to relax. Our connection was always more intense when we were physically in the same room, so being that the bunker was just a large space with dividers, I knew it was going to hit him at some point.

Dean slipped back from me, sat against the edge of the table and let me go, crossing his arms over his chest as if to block me out, but I knew that wasn't his intention. It was more to keep from pulling me back into the hug.

"Who won?" I smiled which got him to look down the room at Danni and Jack.

"I think they're still going at it." He shrugged. "Sometimes, I think she lets him win."

"Bite your tongue," Cas laughed, which got us both to look at him, "I tried that the other night and he saw right through it."

"Yeah, but you're Dad, she's Aunt Danni, and you know how he is with the girls." Dean winked and Cas shook his head. "But, you have a point, nothing gets past him."

Mary walked up passed Jack and Danni just as Jack won a hand, which made her jump. She stopped at the end of the table, looked at the three of us and put her hands in her back pockets.

Dean stood straight, his arm pressed against my back, leaned down and kissed me on the side of the head before he rounded the table and walked away, patting Cas as he did, a sign for the angel to give us space. These boys had all the tells, no verbal conversation required. I shook my head as Dean winked at me and walked down the steps but it was Castiel's concerned face that made me smile.

Mary smiled at me as she walked closer, trying to keep the air of approachability about her as she leaned against the table.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot this morning," she said softly and, oh, so that was her mom voice. I think I understood where Sam got his technique from, and I nodded.

"Major wrong foot." I agreed and sighed, "but I'm going to assume that this is because you have questions, not to do the whole make up with Mom thing."

"So much happened to you," and there it was. Pity, and I took a breath, pulled out the chair and sat down, gesturing for her to have a seat. Mary took the one next to me, turning it so that we could see each other.

"It didn't just happen to me, Mary, it happened to all of us. The four of us, and Cas. We were connected in a way that was used, and screwed with, toyed with for the benefit of everyone else but you know what," I glanced past her at Dean, who was again sitting and watching Jack and Danni, Cas, who had joined them and Sam who was now walking over with three beers, before I turned back to her. "We're here, we're together and everything they tried to stop, that didn't work. We won't let that happen."

"You and Sam," she seemed to go on without hesitation. "I don't think I could have raised him strong enough to take that on."

"Sam was Sam, as much as that sounds like a cop-out. He was always as he was intended to be. You know how fate works, Mary, destiny, so why does it shock you that those two boys grew up to be heroes? They saved the world, so many times, they saved me even when there was no way I was worthy of it." I sat forward in the chair, braced my elbows on my knees and smiled. "Sam and Dean have so many inner demons, but you know what amazes me the most about them, they don't let that stop them from chasing away the monsters in other people's lives."

"Your journal told me about the God Killer blades." I nodded, sitting back, "do you still feel it?"

"The darkness? All the time, but it's easier with family," my gaze landed on Dean. "I admit that what it did to Dean wasn't something I really wanted. God, if I could have kept both him and Sam away from it I would have, but, he," I smiled, watched his eyes peek at me over the end of the bottle like the emotions along the tether were just tugging it along. "He thinks he's dark, that all the fighting and death has caused him to be something evil, but when I was that way, he was a light, a brilliant, bright light that helped guide me out of it. Just like Danni and Cas, he was an angel."

"And Sam?" My eyes flickered to hers, then at Sam, who was laughing as he and Cas talked.

"Sam will always be my other half, darkness or not, we're just better together." I whispered, fading off, not hearing what she was saying as I looked at him, just sat there and looked because I couldn't picture my life without him.

I cleared my throat, had enough of bonding time, of course, it might have been that when I had the case of the supernatural itches, I just couldn't let it go. I smiled at her, stood and went to say something but just nodded and walked away, out the right door behind the library. I heard Sam say something about being right back and knew that it wouldn't be long before he found me. If that was the case, I knew just where to go.

Sliding open the wall, I smiled, turned and stood quiet for a moment, listening for the sound of familiar footsteps and reached for the button of my jeans. He was going to enjoy this, but afterwards, he was either going to kill me or kiss me, and I wasn't sure what thought turned me on more.

I sat on the table that was in the dungeon, swung my bare legs with the tune in my head and watched as Sam came quickly through the door, a look of worry on his face, until he stopped, and stared down at bare flesh.

He slowly turned, took hold of the shelves and slid them closed, eyes roaming over me the whole time as he finally stepped up to me. Just as he was about to walk by the chair that sat parked in the middle of the room, I stood and this alone gave him pause.

"What are you doing?" But there was just a bit of curiosity in his voice. I stepped up to him, let my fingers go up the buttons of the shirt he wore until I reached the top, to which I then proceeded to make my way down again, unbuttoning them.

"Do you realize that if we took all the times we been together over the last nine months and put them in order, we would technically still be on our honeymoon." I grinned as I stepped up to him. He was getting the point as he slowly sat down in the chair, spreading his knees so that I could stand between them.

"If we were English royalty and we decided a three month tour of the island was something we really wanted to do." He snarked back which really just made me narrow my eyes at him. His fingers twitched as he rested them on the arms of the chair, itching to touch but not wanting to overstep. "Ali."

"Show me." I whispered, slipping my hands under the shoulders of his flannel, feeling the muscles there contract then flutter with release, and I pushed the shirt down. "Please."

He clenched his fists, debated for a second and then moved, taking off the flannel, then stripping off his T-shirt. His scars had always been the center of not only a debate between us, but also a slow form of torture for him. They felt foreign to him when I touched them in passing but when I lavished attention to them during times like right now, they only served to excite him.

There was one though, one in particular that I was interested in. I placed one bare leg on either side of his thick thighs, then stepped together as he pushed up on his tiptoe, putting pressure against me. I reached out, fingers dancing over the scar that took seventy-two stitches to close, and he let out a muffled moan. Looking up from where I traced it, I watched the blue fade from his eyes, becoming darkened by lust with only a hint of green.

Each bump of the stitch, each valley in between was given the same amount of attention, but it was his lips that I was looking forward to. He still hadn't moved, didn't dare to touch yet, as I leaned in, brought my thumb up under his chin, caressed the side of his neck with my fingers and gently touched my lips to his.

The noise that vibrated through him as I pressed my naked skin to him was primal, and needy and everything he was, but he just wouldn't let go. I kissed and licked along his jaw, up behind his ear, followed the tendon across to where it joined at the hollow of his throat. His fingers clenched on the metal, the squeak of his skin showing how much restraint he was losing.

"It's alright, Sam," I mouthed over his collarbone and down to his nipple.

"No," just that one words seemed to be punched out of him. "I'm good."

"You sure?" I asked when my lips hit the edge of the first one.

"Ahh," he huffed, but tensed up not to move. "Keep going, God," he swallowed hard enough to make me think something was suck, but then he breathed out the next, "please, don't stop."

"If it gets to be too much," I paused, looked up to make sure he opened his eyes wide enough to see me.

"Yeah," he nodded, almost like he wasn't sure what to do next, "okay."

I slid from his leg, which brought on another sinsation as he started to bounce it like he was full of energy, and squatted down between them. My fingers ceased their ministrations on the vampire's scar and worked their way towards his belt, quickly taking that issue out of the equation and the room filled with Sam's muted answers to what my tongue was doing along his ribs.

His button and zipper came next and the sigh of content left his lips. His head tipped back as I followed the line of soft hair that trailed down from beneath his navel. His hips raised as if asked by silent request when I tugged down the boxers he wore, just enough to get them under his ass, and to release his heavy, heated cock from the confines of the material.

Wrapping my fingers around the base, Sam's head came up quickly, his eyes focused on what my hands were doing to him, slowly stroking, until my lips moved and he gasped. I licked and sucked around his hip bones, followed those lines straight down to where my hand gripped him.

Sam finally released the chair, but it was only to move his hands into my hair as he hissed when I licked up the back side, my fingers twisting as he moaned. When I wrapped my lips around him, his body tenses again, as it always did, an old fear keeping him still, halting his movements, until he relaxed into the feeling.

Those ahs became louder, the hmmphs of air leaving him as he bit his lips, because he always did, escalated until I could feel him thickening. The pitch in his moans changed, got a little bit higher and suddenly, his hand was under my arm, lifting me from the floor to met his mouth. Sam's hands ran over my back, up until he could get them into my hair as he pulled me onto his lap.

He tried to hold back, but there was no sense, I knew what he wanted, I knew what I wanted and I reached between us as I straddled him, lined him up and sank down slowly. No matter how many times we were together, he always amazed me with the sounds he made, but right now it was my turn. The chair was curved, where the arms met the seat, just enough to slot my knees into and not bruise them, something we learned the second time I had entered the bunker, and with that bracing me, I took him in.

His kisses were full of fire, tongue and nips, but as his hand slid over my ass, helping with the push and pull, I knew they were just a build up. I pulled away from that mouth, pressed against him and lazily moved, twirling my hips as I moved over, up, and around him, and his arms encased me.

"I love you," he whispered softly in my ear, lips moving against my skin as I pressed my forehead to his shoulder.

"I love you too," I replied, turning to find him again and softly caresses were the only thing we could exchange as the feelings began to build. "Oh, Sam."

"Shh, shh, not yet." He begged, wrapping both arms low on my back and he slid down in the chair, hoping to get a little more control. "Wait… oh, God." Control didn't work this time. "Al."

My name was the last thing he said before he closed his eyes tight, clenched his teeth and held me down against him as he came. I could feel my legs shake from the rush, but the rest of me just slumped against him as he gave my hips a little nudge before he pulled me back, and softly, he sighed.

"I really like this room." He mumbled, and I Iooked up at him as he lay his head back against the chair. I smiled, kissed just under his collarbone and shivered as the chill started to create goosebumps.

"I'd like it better if it had blankets." I answered and he adjusted his arms, trying to cover as much of me as he could. I raised my head, turned just a bit and looked at the door.

"Dean?" Sam whispered.

"No, something else." I sighed, because as much as I cared, I didn't want to move.

"Something bad?"

I put my head back down on his chest and shrugged. "Probably just Cas making the rounds." I huffed, "if I called him down, do you think he'd bring me a blanket?"

"What?" Sam laughed. "How about," he kissed my cheek, "we just go use the shower down here and warm up?"

"Is there towels in it this time?" I snickered and turned my head to look at him.

"After last time, there is always towels." He ran a hand over my head and into my hair. "You don't even have to get dressed, I'll carry you."

"Pull your jeans up first so you don't trip." I slowly moved, hating the feeling of losing his touch from my skin but as I watched him tuck himself away and button his jeans, I also couldn't keep from staring at his body. "Jesus, Sam, you're fucking perfect."

He snatched his shirts off the ground, walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist before picking me off the floor. "Have you looked at yourself lately? The best part is that you're all mine."

"Without a doubt." He kissed me quickly, strutted over to the doors and managed to slide it open with his foot somehow before carrying me off to the warmth of a hot shower.

After dinner was quiet time, or at least for me because I was back in 12C, this time with a little company.

The door, though mainly propped open, squeaked softly on it's hinges and both Jack and I looked up from our books at Danni, who was leaning against the sill. I followed her eyes, as she went over Jack, sitting at the table, arms crossed on the wood, large tome opened to whatever subject he was studying and the young man looked up at her, gave her a quick smile and went back to his reading.

Those eyes ventured to me and she shook her head. "Counters are made for glasses, not asses."

I looked down at the hard wood beneath me, where I sat on the edge, crossed legged with a book on my lap, arms folded at my waist and shrugged. "It's a table."

She cleared her throat. "Got the kid working for you now?"

"Jack is brushing up on his Shakespeare, as the old literary works actually portrayed him and I am working over some of the not so special traits of lycanthropy." I deadpanned and watched her come down to stand next to me. She patted my leg, which got me to flex and untangle myself from the table top. Standing up, in only socked feet because shoes were not allowed on furniture, I straightened my shirt and smiled. "What's up Danni-cup?"

"Seriously, you've been locked in here most of the weekend, what gives?"

"Jack and I are spending some quality time together, it just so happens that we like to spend it quietly pondering over irritating works of Latin fiction." I grinned and watched Jack smile, like he was trying not to pay attention. "Hey, Michelangelo, can you go get me a coke?"

"Sure," Jack looked at me questioningly but got the fact that Danni and I needed a moment before he stood and left the room, heading in the direction of the kitchen.

When he was far enough down the hall, I looked up at Danni and sighed. "So, to what do I really owe the pleasure of your company?"

"You disappeared."

"I know."

"Into an alley… this can't happen again, Ali," and I smiled at that stupid remark. "I'm being serious. Where the hell did you end up this time?"

"It wasn't me, I didn't cause it, I didn't even make it happen. I think Crowley did." I crossed my arms and leaned against the table. "Did you know it originated in Lawrence?" The color drained from her face, "did you know that it raised Mary because she died there?" She slowly shook her head. "Danni, I don't know what this thing is or how it's going to affect Mary, but if Crowley is telling me to back off… I just can't."

"You should know better by now."

"Yeah, that supernatural things that go bump in the night are never to be left alone, no matter how much I try." I knew she might not understand but there was no way that I could just let it lie. "Listen, I haven't acted because I'm still looking and I won't do anything if it means that Mary disappears. I'm not going to take that from the boys again. Just like Jack, they need at least one parent on their side… preferably alive."

"So, what do you got so far?"

"At this moment?" I questioned, and waited for her to nod, to want to know before the whole thing deflated. "Jack squat."

"Wonderful." She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "So, come out."

"What?"

"With us, come out with us for the night. Mary said she would keep Jack entertained, something about Titanic, so that gives us a night out with you, me, and all three boys." I contemplated for a moment, before I found myself fighting a racing heart. People and I still didn't get along, but this was Sam, Dean, and Cas, and I would be perfectly safe. Right? Slowly, I gave in and nodded. "Great. Let's go find the kid."

Needless to say, Jack might have been just a little bit upset that our time was interrupted because it was basically tradition, but once he found out that there was a Jack in the movie, he was game.

The bar was just down the road, a small thing that had two pool tables and not a whole lot of room, but it was cozy, bright, and just the perfect spot for the five of us to sit and catch up. I managed to keep pretty present for the duration, but the fact that I kept thinking I was seeing shadows shimmering had me distracted.

Sam caught on, keeping a steady hand on my knee. Danni eyed me up a few times trying to make sure I stayed on task, but it was Dean's cornering me in the hallway to the bathroom that got me to admit that I wasn't all there.

He stood with his back against the wall as I walked out, arms crossed in front of him, that deadly Dean Winchester stare in his green eyes and I shook my head, smiling. I knew he felt it along the tether and that had me a little irritated.

"I'm fine, Dean." I went to walk by him but his hands reached out and grabbed my wrist, halting me in my tracks.

"You know, Sam I can read like a book. His eyes give away how "fine" he really isn't, but you," he tugged me towards him, "if it wasn't for this thing… you have the best poker face."

"Can we go with that then and pretend you can't feel me tingling all up in your head?"

"It doesn't work that way." He shrugged and smiled, "besides, it's not in my head."

"I don't wanna know where it tugs you, big guy." I grinned back and felt his hand slip up my shoulders and grip the back of my neck. "My brain is just on a few things back home, that's all. I got looking at the books and now it's just trying to piece it all together."

"Yeah, you do that too," he sighed, "play it off like it's some sort of riddle you need to solve all alone, but it's not. That's what we're here for, and we've been doing this a long time, Kid, why not let us help?"

"To be honest, I'm afraid of the outcome, or more that there isn't anything that can be done about it, Dean, so until I know that, I think I should just let it go." Dean nodded, the small twitch of his lip was letting me know he wasn't buying it, so, I tried the next best thing. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned on him, letting the comfort of the connection grow.

"If you need me, you better open your mouth and say something." He mumbled, his fingers gently rubbing back and forth across my skin. "You know I don't care what Mom says."

"Okay," I sighed, letting contentment flow as he wrapped his arms around me.

For a moment, we stood there, just holding each other before I suddenly let him go and the two of us walked in two seperate directions. Dean to the pool table where Danni was kicking Cas' ass, and me to the man who was grinning like a fool at me, beer against his lips.

That dungeon room sounded awful nice right about now.

SUNDAY

There was cold concrete against my back, and the terrifying inability to move that creeped along my skin, even as the muscles in my arms and legs fought against the hold. It took everything I had to open my eyes, to see the world come into focus with just the light that shined through the grates in the bottom of the doors to the bedroom.

As it came into view, everything seemed wrong. Sam was above me, laying on his back, arms above his head, nothing on but the sheet. His eyes were closed, smile lightly spread on his lips. He was dreaming of something good at least. I wanted to yell, wanted to tell myself to wake up, but I couldn't move, couldn't think, and that was when i felt it.

The hot lick of flames surrounded me, the light in the room grew brighter and suddenly I could see everything. The bed, the desk, even the watch on the bedside table that Sam had removed before falling asleep. They all hovered above me, until that heat touched my skin and the pain was excruciating.

I tried to scream, tried to open my mouth to even let a sound out but nothing worked, not until the embers began to fall and Sam sat up, eyes opened wide. He was the one that was screaming as my name filled my ears.

The door burst open, Dean ducked in, grabbed Sam by the arm, turned to look up and stared at me. He just stared.

_Go!_ My mental voice yelled at him, even as the feeling of bubbling flesh consumed my breath. _Go now!_

Dean yanked Sam from the bed, dragged the man out of the room as everything around me was enveloped in flames.

I sat up quickly, taking in a deep breath, coated in sweat and trying despiritely to catch my racing heart. Looking beside me, Sam lay dead to the world, rolled over on his side away from me, leg hanging from the bed. That was when I felt the bile rise and I scrambled to get out the door.

Everything I had eaten, not only that day but possibly the last twenty-four hours, was expelled as I knelt over the bowl. I was bawling as I threw up, the horror of the nightmare and the emotions of being paralyzed was too much, and I didn't care how it might have looked to the man who raced into the room, slamming the door open.

I looked up at Dean after sitting back against the cold wall, tears streaming down my face, shaking hands reaching out to him, and he moved quickly, somehow managing to get a wet cloth from the sink as he pulled me onto his lap.

One arm held me, fingers digging into me in order to keep me close, while the other cleaned my face with the cool cloth that he ran gently over my skin. A soft shush kept leaving his lips, in between the light humming of _Hey, Jude. _

I was so cold that I couldn't keep my body still, even as he wrapped me with a towel. I wasn't naked, but a tank and boyshorts weren't exactly the warmest thing in the world. I held tightly to his black t-shirt, feeling the sway of his body as he pressed his cheek against my head, caressed chilled fingers over my face as that tune continued.

We were there for a while, or it felt like forever before Sam skidded past the door in his socked feet, grabbed the wall and came back, only to suddenly be crashing down beside me, hands overlapping Dean's as he pushed my hair back from my face, but I was still crying. I hadn't yet found my words.

"What's going on?" Danni questioned from the doorway.

"I don't know," Sam whispered, leaning in. I shivered at the warmth of his lips, and suddenly shrunk down against Dean, feeling the fire lick at my hair. I knew Sam had turned towards his brother because those hands slowly pulled away. "Dean, what's going on?"

"A nightmare," his voice was deep with emotions, like he had seen it all, felt it all and he might have, I had never bothered to ask. "It's just a nightmare, Sammy."

"That's not _just_ anything, Dean." There was something there, something in his voice that made the tears flow again and I shifted, pushed away from Dean, moved out of Sam's touch and headed out past Danni, into the hallway. "Ali, wait."

I don't know how far I made it, the room still spun and came in and out of focus, but when I did stop, it was because my legs gave out, and I found myself in the arms of an angel. Cas had just stepped out of his room when I approached, and the forward motion put me right in his path. He scooped me up, carried me bridal style, as I held on tightly, my face pressed against his neck, back to the bathroom.

"Sam, could you run a bath, please," came out like a rumble beneath me as he sat down slowly on the closed toilet seat.

"She okay, Cas?" Dean questioned as I heard the stopper go up, the water turn on and the shock of it had me moving. If I could have crawled into the angel, I would have and it only served to make him pull me in closer.

"She will be."

I felt warm fingers, the width of a large palm pressing on my leg and I finally found the courage to open my eyes to look at Sam, who knelt beside me again. "Hey, Gorgeous, you alright?"

I gave him one nod of my head, released my hold on Cas' jacket and gently covered his hand with mine. My body gave up its fight right then and I managed to stifle a yawn. Dean shut off the water, and patted Sam on the shoulder before he left the room. Just out of sight, I could see Danni follow Dean and close the door behind her.

"Gonna let go of Cas?" Sam smiled but the thought of it sent my heart racing again and my fingers clenched his automatically. "Okay, okay," he cooed, but that did nothing for the fact that the tears were running again, "forgot he's been there through all this, so, if you're good with the nudity, I'm good with it too."

To say working around the man to get the tank and shorts off was a production would be putting it mildly but the more I tried to move away from Cas, the worse it became and the panic reared up once again. Even when he set me down in the bathtub, it was one hand on Cas' arm and the other on Sam.

It took reheating the tub twice before I was relaxed enough to let my eyes close.

"Ali," Cas' voice made me jump, startling me awake. I opened my eyes wide and stared at him. "I'm going to go back to bed."

"Okay," it was weak and rough from the acid, but I added a nod to it.

"Sam will keep you safe."

Of course, why did Cas think he wouldn't. Cas stood, patted Sam on the back and left the room. With a sigh, I slid back down in the water, my eyes looking over the worried, pale face of Sam Winchester and I blinked away the tears.

"Was it that bad?" Sam asked, reaching out to push my hair back from my face.

I fought to keep awake and sighed, "yeah, it really was."

"Want to tell me about it?" He placed his arm on the edge of the tub and leaned his chin down. I smiled, reached out with pruny fingers and ran a wet hand over his forehead, pushing his hair away from his face.

"After coffee maybe."

"You think it's time for coffee?" He grinned.

"I think I'd like it to be."

"How about I take you back to bed for a few more hours of sleep?" I stiffened at the thought of the bedroom and felt my body tremble, which got Sam to sit up, reaching out to cup my cheeks. "Alright, no bed, got it. We can go to the rec room." I nodded against his hand. The old recliners there were pretty damn comfortable, especially adding sleeping in the man's lap to that equation. He gave just a little grin and ran his thumb over my lips. "Sound good?" He paused for a moment. "I'm going to get you some clothes, do you want me to call Cas or Dean in? Maybe Danni?"

"No," I swallowed, "I'll be alright, I want to brush my teeth too, dry off a little."

"Okay," he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. "I'll be right back."

And he was, but it was still long enough for me to get the things done that I needed to in order to feel human again. I didn't taste bile, there weren't knots in my hair, and the cold chill was gone from my skin, but, even so, he brought in a pair of sleep pants and his, well mine really, favorite flannel shirt to wrap me in.

The light from the bar was on, giving the room a light yellow glow, but he flicked on the television as well before he sat on the chair and reclined it all the way back. Tugging me by the hand, I crawled onto him, fitting perfectly in the V that the chair created on his lap. Sam grabbed the blanket, tucked me in it and wrapped his arms around me. It didn't take long at all to fall into a deep sleep that was, thankfully, dreamless.

"Dean, dammit, they're fine, see!" Danni snapped, probably just a little too loud but by my guess he had probably come in about six times now. It's not that she was yelling it, but I was finally waking up and that just upped the volume. "Come on, they'll come out when they're ready."

"I know, I know. I'm… I'm sorry." Dean mumbled, but I could hear the need in his voice, like he just _had_ to make sure we were all right. "Coffee?" There was a small pause. "I'll make you a pot."

And then, there was silence.

"I'm not sure how many mornings I've woken up that way," Sam snickered and his arms wrapped tighter, "either because of Dean's nightmares or Danni just being Danni."

"They mean well." I sighed, snuggling into his chest as he laughed.

"He means something." I knew what was coming next, I really should have just opened my mouth but… "Wanna talk about it?"

"Before coffee?" I smiled, but it faded just as fast as I put it on and sighed. "You're not going to like it."

"I never like waking up to what I did last night." He pressed his lips against my head and sighed. It might not have been the first time that a nightmare had sent me running to the bathroom in the middle of the night, or had Dean right beside me, or even Sam trying to figure out how to connect when a touch was too much. "But, I need…"

"I was dying," I mumbled as heard his heart pound as it began to race, "on the ceiling, while you slept below me. I was on fire, I couldn't move, and Dean pulled you out of the room."

"Like Mom," he whispered, "like Jess." I nodded and felt his fingers dig into the muscles of my arms. "Why?"

"If I knew that, I don't think I would have freaked out so bad."

"You felt something." His fingers came up, ghosted over my face and ran through my hair, giving him access to my skin as his lips brushed where his hand had trailed. "As soon as I touched you, I knew. It wasn't just a dream."

"It's done now." I sat up, slowly, not wanting to brush him off but I didn't want to relive it and I looked up at him as I straightened in his lap. "Can we have coffee now?"

A small smirk crossed his lips as he nodded, but then he held on tightly and brought me in, kissing me softly as he did, before looking deep into my eyes. I watched the brown specks seem to rise in those blue-green eyes and leaned in for one more.

"Kiss me quick before the boy wakes up and makes all sorts of eww noises at the show of affection." I laughed and felt his fingers grip just before he pulled me into a deep enough kiss to taste me. When I backed away, I swore the room spun. "That was… wow."

"If you keep sitting there like this, you're not getting coffee for a while," he laughed and looked down between us. Yep, kisses did wild things to him. I smiled, felt him kick in the footrest and bring us to an upright position before I slid back and stood. He took a deep breath, extending that chest and I winked before moving out of the room.

Danni and Dean were sitting at the table, bagels and cream cheese in front of them, along with coffee when I entered the room. Dean didn't look up, but Danni met my eyes. I gave her a half-awake smile and poured a cup before sliding onto the seat beside her. I reached for the flavored creamer, brushing against Dean's hand as I did so and he finally looked up, the emotion he didn't want to let out blazing in his eyes.

"Good morning," I grinned, "and yes, I'm okay."

"What the fuck was that?" Danni blurted out and I raised a finger, shook my head, and pointed at my cup, before slowly raising it to take a sip. "So, after breakfast, we talk."

"Ooh, what is for breakfast?" I questioned, looking back at the counter. Dean must have gone out, because a whole bunch of breakfast pastries and baked goods filled the counter, and I turned back to him. "What? No eggs, no bacon?"

Dean suddenly stood, took his cup and walked out of the room. I sighed, raised my mug again and continued to caffeinate myself. Danni turned to me, looked at me as if I were an oddity and slowly I brought my eyes up to stare at her.

"What?"

"You're not going after him?" Her gaze narrowed as I shook my head.

"No," I whispered, looking down at the lightened liquid in my cup, which got an even more shocked look from her. "He's fine, just needs a few."

"How do you know?" I pointed to my temple but didn't really reply as Sam came in the room looking down the hallway. He poured himself a cup, came over and sat across from me, as if he knew that Dean was sitting in that specific chair and left it open. "Morning, Sam."

"Hey," he flashed her a smile and grabbed the sugar. "Dean okay?"

"He'll be fine," I mumbled and flashed my eyes up in his direction. "Residual from last night, I think."

"You feeling it?"

"Maybe a little." I sighed and reached out, stealing a piece of the bagel that had been in front of Dean before popping it in my mouth. Maybe I was hungry. I stood and walked over to the counter, grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and a lemon poppy seed for Sam, and sat back down, pushing his over to him. "This is going to sound strange," and Danni snorted, I rolled my eyes and peeled back the wrapper. "But, I think it means something."

"It means you had too much red meat before bed." Danni laughed. This made Sam blush as I turned and looked at her.

"Pervert much?" I smiled and shook my head. "Not what I meant, but whatever."

"You think it's connected to the…" Sam started

"Aether." I replied, nodding. "Something about it seemed… too real."

"The whole thing seems too real." Sam sighed and started eating, done with the conversation as Jack stumbled into the room. He looked at the three of us, narrowed his eyes and moved towards the coffee pot. At that very moment, he looked like any other seventeen-year-old and I smiled. "There's food." Sam pointed out to him and watched Jack sit down next to me at the table, head going down to his arm as he closed his eyes. "You didn't sleep?"

"Had a bad dream." The kid mumbled.

"Is it going around?" Danni questioned and Jack just shrugged.

"There were so many flames, so much heat." Jack just went on and I reached over, placed my hand between his shoulder blades as I closed my eyes. There was no way the kid and I had the same dream. Mary popped in at that point, all bright eyes and smiles, but I felt Jack begin to shake and I quickly took his hand, just like Sam took mine. "Can I be excused?"

And then he was gone.

I swallowed hard, felt along the tether and took a deep breath. Communication never worked quite as well as I wanted it to, but I could feel where Dean was, hiding in the garage and I grabbed my phone, something I had rushed into the room with closed eyes to find before hitting the kitchen and sent out a text.

_Jack needs you_, was all I sent and returned my hand to Sam's. Discussion about dreams, fire, and death stopped as Mary sat down next to Sam.

"Must have been a great night out, you all looks exhausted." She grinned, maybe actually knowing what was going on but not saying it.

"It was wild." I tried my best to smile back, but I lowered my head and went back to my muffin. The phone beside me went off, a text from Dean and a simple _I got'em._ I released Sam, stood up from the table and smiled, taking my muffin and mug with me to the sink. "I'm gonna go grab a shower."

Sam winked at me, which was all I needed and I made my way out of the room. Following the hum of the tether, I found both men, young and older, sitting on the stairs that led up to the garage. Sitting down on the other side of Jack, I took his hand and sighed.

"Somehow, the two of you had the same dream." Dean whispered, after a few moments of silence, which had me whipping around to look at him. "Yeah, I saw it."

"How? This thing never worked that way before." I wanted to be upset that he had to go through that again but he shook his head.

"It wasn't through your eyes, it was through mine," he continued, "I rushed in, I grabbed Sam, and I looked up at you, not the other way around." He reached out and placed his hand on the back of my neck, stretching so his arm also rested on Jack. "Jack said he caught it by stepping in the bedroom door after hearing me yell."

"Different perspectives?" I questioned and watched him shrug. Guess that was all I was going to get. "Listen, Dean, you and I have to talk."

"All ears," he piped up but watched as I gave him just that little bit of a look that said _not now_ and he nodded. "Right, well, later then."

Dean got up, turned and made his way back up the stairs. Jack sighed, wrapped his arms around me for a quick hug and mumbled something about finding Castiel and before I knew it, I was alone. With a sigh, I stood, and made my way down the hallway, cut to the right and wound my way through the corridors to 12C.

When I opened the door, I stopped, shocked and looked at the body that stood, hunched over the dozens of books that filled the table. His blue-green eyes flickered up at me as his finger stopped mid-page.

"Had a feeling you were going to come down here," he grinned but didn't move. "Aethers?"

"Yep," I nodded and stepped forward. "You showed me shimmering bodies and became obsessed."

"Is it going to hurt Mom? Take her away again? Because I don't think Dean could handle that." I shrugged in answer to his questions.

"I'm not sure who called it, or why, or even if there's a reason for Mary being here, but I'm not going to touch it if it means hurting the two of you." I moved towards him, ran a hand down his back as I pressed against his arm. "There's so much I don't understand about them, and I was looking for something, anything that would explain it."

"So, what do we do?" Sam stood, showing me his true height, which was definitely a stretch for him to look down at me.

"Nothing." I whispered. "We do nothing."

Nothing came at an awful price.

Noon hit, the seven of us had manage to avoid the topic of nightmares for the most part, but that all changed at the stroke of noon. Danni and I sat on the floor in 12C just as the arm blared and both of us looked up. Sam and Cas were standing around the map table, apparently something had come up for a few other hunters. Jack and Dean were in the garage again, this time with greasy hands, and Mary stood in the library, much like us, with her nose buried in a book.

Needless to say, it was a record time from the moment the lights started flashing to the second we all stood in the same place. Sam pulled up the laptop, connecting to the monitors above the old time control boards and Dean stepped forward.

At the door, the shimmering body slammed against the wards, but nothing could be heard. Cas narrowed his eyes, watching it closely before he turned back to the boys.

"That's not an aether." The angel stated above the sounds of the alarm, his eyes going to me. "It might have been the creature that brought her back, but _that_ is not one."

"Good to know, because it's coming through the door any second now." I snapped back and moved to the edge of the map table. There, just under the surface, was a button, and that button alone opened a secret drawer.

I pulled it out, about three and a half feet long, two and a half deep, loaded with guns, angel blades and other weapons. Each of us took two, Sam and Dean protecting Mary as Cas and I surrounded Jack, not that they couldn't hold their own but this was us. Danni stood in the middle, a wild smile on her face as she turned to me.

This was going to be fun.

The door crashed in, not coming off the hinges but it was definitely going to need a new lock. The shadowed, shimmering thing stood at the edge of the balcony as if taking a second to look us over before it began its descent down the stairs.

What the hell? There was something oddly familiar about it, maybe the way it felt, or just that it was strange to look at but my eyes went to Danni, who gave a little nod. The little tilt of her head told me that she got it and took a step forward.

"Are you nuts?" Dean growled, but it got the _thing's_ attention as it moved towards Danni. I raised my hand, hoping to still the older Winchester before I twirled the angel blade in my hand and made a slight noise, a double click, like I was calling a horse. Dean rolled his eyes. "You're both crazy."

Stepping away from Jack, I moved to the other side of it, as Danni distracted it. It moved closer, zeroing in on Mary as Dean suddenly found himself moving to help. Sam scooted around and the four of us blocked it in.

"No! Wait!" Cas' voice was the last thing I heard before I stepped into the swing of the blade.

Everything after that was a blur. Danni attacked and I could see her fighting with it, moving forward aggressively, until she was thrown to the floor. I looked up at Dean, nodded as he brought the demon blade at the ready, and both of us took a step towards it, but Dean skidded across the floor with flick of his wrist.

"Ali!" Sam called over the rush of my heart because with Dean down, I was the next target. It turned to me, mimicked my stance and in a blur was on top of me. "Dean!" But that just meant that Dean was on his feet again. "Wait."

"Stop!" Cas yelled once more, but I was already in the middle of a dance with the being. Dean grabbed it, or grabbed at it, and missed completely, but Sam pulled a football player move, raced towards us and tackled the thing, that was, of course, until it shifted out of his hold and came right back at me.

"SAM!" Dean's scream told me one thing, the boy was probably knocked out. This had the blood rushing at me, the feeling of the darkness pulled at the box she was locked in and I knew that nothing was going to hold her if I didn't stop.

I switched tactics, ducked and weaved defensively until I was able to get around it. My hand reached out, trying to grab, and the shock that it sent through me almost had me on my knees, but that was thing… I could touch it.

Using this knowledge, I steadied my legs and swung, swung with everything I had and I followed, step by step as the thing avaded my advances but didn't stop its own until we were locked face to face. Of course, it was taller than me, standing just about the height of Dean, and I could almost feel it snarl, but I kicked out with my foot, hooked it behind the knee and brought it down, placing the long edge of the angel blade against what would be its throat.

"Ali! Stop!" Cas snapped and I hadn't realized it, but he had been in the background trying to get me to pay attention the whole time. Catching my breath, I took a quick glance at the angel before I looked back down at the thing before me. "He doesn't mean you harm."

"He?" Dean questioned.

"He?" I echoed, staring down at the form before me. The transformation was slowly, as if the black shimmer of the body was collecting, forming into something different. My hand shook as I dropped the blade and swallowed hard. His hazel eyes looked at me, stared as if he remembered who I was, even as I noted the way his hair had become gray. "John?"

"Dad?" Sam's voice was full of disbelief, but he was the solid wall behind me as I stumbled backwards, the flashes of our last interaction bombarding my thoughts. Sam's arms wrapped around me, holding me steady as I shook. "Cas, what's going on?"

John stood slowly, the smile on his face as wide as it could get and he looked up at Sam.

"First a demon and now an aether?" Dean growled, stepping forward, but John turned, shaking his head at his oldest. Danni moved up beside Dean, who was completely confused.

"I don't believe that's the case." Cas stepped forwards, almost blocking John's access to Dean and the ghost, spirit, whatever he was looked around the room again, locking onto Mary. "Whatever the aether did, it disturbed the balance."

"Great," Dean snapped, "that tells me nothing."

John stepped past Cas, moving in the direction of Mary but that was also blocked by Jack, who's eyes burned a golden hue.

"Jack, it's fine." Cas reassured the young man and Jack slowly stepped aside. "It seems that Mary and John shared a heaven. When Mary went missing, John went looking."

"He escaped Heaven?" Sam asked softly, his fingers running gently up my arm to keep me still.

"To find your mother, yes." Cas sighed.

"How do you know all this?" Danni whispered and Cas raised a brow at her.

"He's a soul, I can hear everything." Cas shrugged, a very human thing to do, and turned back to watch as John reached his target, wrapped one hand around her waist and slid the other along her cheek. "That may be why he didn't set off the alarms when he first appeared."

"Now what do we do?" Dean's voice was a wreck, I could feel every emotion in the book flowing from him as he watched the interaction between his parents, never thinking that he would ever be witness to this.

"He wants me to go back with him." Mary smiled, whispering as the tears flowed from her cheek, "but, he wants me to stay." Mary drew the soul in for a kiss and I narrowed my eyes at this, because, okay, it was weird. "I can't leave them, John, not when I just got them back." John cocked his head to the side. "I know, I know our boys are waiting, but these are ours too." Sam shifted against me, his hands tightened. Mary looked at the two men and shook her head. "I can't, please understand. You had so long with them, now, it's my turn."

Sam took my hand in his, stepped away from behind me and slowly moved me out of the room. He couldn't watch this, and I knew it. He didn't want to say goodbye again, and he sure as hell didn't want to be reminded of the events of the past. Ducking into the kitchen, he dropped my hand and collapsed onto the seat, both hands on his face as he tried to breath.

I moved up to him, reached out and ran both my hands through his hair as he circled my waist and held me tightly. I leaned down and kissed the back of his head softly as he controlled his breathing, but looked up as Dean and Danni walked in. The mask of anger that was plastered to Dean's face told me he was holding back on purpose but it was only a few moment before Cas and Jack also entered the room. Never once did I stop my fingers.

"So, what now?" I whispered and watched the faces of the four in the room. "Nothing, no one wants to know anymore than what we do? Cas, is John going to stay?"

"It's impossible. Once a soul enters heaven… although, he is a Winchester, the pull to go back will be… he has no corporeal body." Cas tried to explain it but I got what he meant. "I'm sorry."

"What about Mom?" Dean questioned, leaning on the table just to my left. "Is she going to go back?"

"That decision…" Cas started.

"No, I'm staying here." Mary spoke up, walking in slowly, her face covered with tears. "I said goodbye to your father. I told him that I needed to be here with you."

"He's gone?" Sam pressed his cheek against my stomach and looked up at his mother. "He didn't even say goodbye?"

"Oh, Sam," she whispered and knelt down in front of him, reaching out to move his hair behind his ears. "He tried, but there was a condition to him being here to begin with. Once he knew my answer, once he knew I was safe, he was drawn back." She wiped the tear from his cheek. "He hears you, you know, when you talk to him."

"You pray to Dad?" Dean questioned softly, not accusingly but as if he thought he was the only one.

"No, not… I don't pray to him, but I tell him things." Sam nodded, sitting back, not taking his hands from my waist. "I told him about the wedding, and Jack, and Danni when she… when the car got wrecked. I told him when Mom showed up, but maybe… maybe he already knew she was here."

"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth," Danni cleared her throat, "but we don't know how she got here to begin with. If it was an aether… why?"

"Something I'll continue to look into, until then, we should just be happy that Mary is here with us in the first place." Cas replied and I nodded, looked down at the blonde woman and up at the people around me.

"Okay," I sighed, "let's…" What was I going to say? Regroup, hug it out, move on with the day? Jesus, had I become that desensitized to the people around me. I felt my heart beat flutter, a sure sign of anxiety and I leaned down, kissed Sam on the lips and sighed, "I need a minute, okay, Sammy, just a minute."

He nodded, kissed me again, and let me go. I closed my eyes, turned quickly and left the room. It didn't take long to hear the footfalls of Dean as I paused in the hallway, holding my hand to my lips as I closed my eyes. His hand slid up my back, over my shoulder and rested on the back of my neck.

"I know," he whispered against my ear, "I know it's hard to let it go, but he's safe, he's in a good place."

"I just… all I could see was the blade going in, the look in his eyes, Dean." I did everything to keep my voice even. "He's there because of me."

"Yeah, you're right, he is." This made me stand straight and look up at him with disbelief. "For the last year and a half, Dad's been in Heaven… with Mom. There hasn't been any demons, or yellow-eyes… or death, Ali, because of you."

"No!" I shook my head, "no, that's not how that works, Dean." I wanted to be angry but I couldn't, but I reached out for him, placing my hand on his chest. "I'm sorry."

"Not the one who needs to hear it, not that any of us need to anymore." He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Come on, Sammy's waiting, and I heard that someone smuggled in a pie."

"Pie?" I snorted, shaking my head. "This is one of those chick-flick moments that you're always bitching about and you come out with pie?"

"Yeah," he deadpanned, "pie trumps everything." Taking my hand in his, he tugged me away from the wall and into the kitchen, where apparently Mary had the same idea. Danni was making coffee, Sam was finding plates, Cas and Jack seemed to be in a full on conversation and mary was cutting pie, two of them. "See, everything."

"I don't think I will ever understand you Winchesters." I whispered to myself as he brought me to the table.

It felt like the whole thing with John had been forgotten, but that was what always happened. Something emotional was taken in stride and brushed off until it became too much, then it came barreling back to the surface and exploded like a timebomb, but I got it, I understood. Everyone needed time to process, and this was how they managed to get around it.

So, pie it was, and a table full of family, light conversation, and the avoidance of topics that brought any of the scary shit to the surface, but before I knew it, I only had hours left before I had to be home.

I heard the thump of Sam's heart beneath my ear, the way he drew in a deep breath trying to stop the racing, but I was okay with both. Sweaty, spent, and so unbelievably comfortable, I just wanted to stay there forever, but it was Sunday, and the kids would be back by seven, which I had to remind myself that I was an hour behind in Lebanon.

His fingers caressed down my back, following my spine, drawing over my tattoos, and we were comfortable in the silence. He leaned down from where he half-sat against the headboard and kissed the top of my head as his other hand ran through my damp hair.

"I hate when weekends end. I think we need a day between Saturday and Sunday," he mumbled, trying hard to keep away the threat of sleep that always invaded his senses after sex. I laughed, lightly and shook my head.

"That would just make for a longer hunting trip, and I haven't been home in a few days as it is. The kids will start to wonder if Cas changed the Gregorian calendar just so we could spend extra time in bed." I leaned up on him, kissed him softly and rolled off to the side, cuddling up into the crook of his arm as he pulled us both down. "Jones texted."

"Which Jones?" Sam smiled, but it soon faded. "What did he say?"

"Banshee in Portland." I shrugged and cleared my throat, sitting up to look at him. "So, I was thinking, Dean has this whole "Mom" thing under control and Cas has Jack, um… you wanna come on a hunt with me?"

"No one else around to help out? Birdy and Arrow?" I shook my head. "Those girls are always up for a case with you?"

"Alabama, last I heard."

"Bee?"

"This is going to sound funny, but Bike week in Laconia." I smiled, and he shook his head. "Apparently, possessed Harleys are a thing."

"Okay," he chuckled. "Let me talk it over with Dean. How are you going to manage the kids if you're popping off to Portland?"

"Nick will look after them, or maybe Cas will bring Jack up." I pulled the sheet around me and got out of bed, but Sam snatched it back and watched me walk over to the dresser. I paused for a moment, then turned and looked at him. "I don't want to leave you."

"It's not forever, just like always." Sam whispered, but I could hear it in his voice.

"I know," I turned back to the T-shirt in my hands and took a deep breath. "We're where we need to be."

"Yeah," he said softly, "right."

Pulling on my clothes, I finally managed to get dressed all the way and take the load of laundry down to the washroom. As the washer spun through the cycles, I leaned back on it and closed my eyes. This was always the hardest part.

I said goodbye to Jack, though the boy had a hard time letting go. Squeezed the life out of Danni, but she was a Winchester and would bounce back. I hugged Mary softly, because she was still a stranger. Cas gave me light kisses, a farewell that he hadn't broken since those months he spent as my protector.

Dean stared at me, his eyes locked, his arms crossed and I could feel the emotions along the line. He hated seeing me go as much as I hated going but life didn't stop because we did what we did, it kept going and I so did I. One second we stared, the neck he was wrapped around me, holding on tightly and his lips pressed against my head, just to be back to our stance a moment later.

Sam followed me down to the closet door and watched as opened it. I turned to say something, not sure what, but his lips were against mine, pressing, teasing and I melted against him. He picked me up, let me wrap my legs around his waist as he backed me against the wall and I gave in, let him take what he needed, even if it was just that feeling.

When he finally backed away for air, he closed his eyes tightly, pressed his forehead against mine and sighed.

"I'll be there soon, and we'll go to Portland," he whispered, and nodded, no words needed. "I miss you already."

"I miss you too." I watched him blink those bright eyes open and slowly he placed me down on his feet and nodded, stepping back. "I love you, Sam."

His lips turned up in a quick smile. "I love you too."

And I stepped into the closet, closing the door behind me, and breathed into the darkness.

TUESDAY

7:30 am.

Joseph was off to school, Ari was headed to the bus stop. Nick had left less than twenty minutes ago and I had a cup of coffee in hand as I closed and locked the door.

Turning to head to the car, I stopped dead, looked at the man at the bottom of the stairs and narrowed my eyes, the dark Charger that sat idling in my driveway was calling to me and my lips turned up in a grin.

"I thought you were coming through the portal." I smiled and looked over Sam as he stood there with his hands in his pockets. He raised a brow and reached out, picking up the bag that I had dropped on the stairs.

"I thought we'd take mine." He winked and I shook my head, stepped down once and leaned in to kiss him softly.

"Well, we better haul ass if we're going to make it there," I teased, and slipped my hand into his outstretched one. "Dean gonna be okay with you gone for a week?"

"He… ah… he told me I was pouty and to get the hell out, so… yeah, more than likely, but he'll probably call twenty times."

I slipped into the Charger and took a deep breath. It always smelled so much like Sam that I couldn't get enough and I just wanted to sink into the seat. He laughed when he got in and closed the door, looking me over like I was a piece of candy.

"Ready?" He whispered, shaking me out of my daze.

"Ready," I replied and he put the car in reverse, before turning down the road.

And I wouldn't change this for the world.


End file.
